Chapter 28: Prickly?
“The way you said ‘you have white hair, huh…’ makes it sound like you thought it was different before, doesn’t it?”
Furei’s words bothered me, and even though it might’ve been a small thing, I pressed her on it.
I felt like it might finally connect to the question I’d been wondering about.
“Nn… When I… first saw her… she was all covered in mud… so I couldn’t tell what color her fur was…”
“Was that at school?”
“Nn…”
As expected, Furei was talking about the day when I met Myaa-san. She must have seen Myaa-san too.
Now I understand why she mentioned the cat as a hint in class.
“At that time… I… was on my way back to the classroom… when I found her… but my sister used one of her subordinates… to drive her away… so I couldn’t stop thinking about her. After that… a classmate said… that you had picked her up… and instead of coming back to the classroom… you took her home… I heard that… So… I wanted to thank you…”
Back then, I really had thought it would be bad if a teacher saw me going back to class like that, and since my house was close, I went home first.
After that, I took Myaa-san to the vet, and once I knew she was okay, I returned to school—but of course, I ended up getting scolded by the teacher.
Still…
“You really are the worst… chasing off a weakened cat like that…”
I complained to Emera, who had fled to the corner of the room the moment I brought Myaa-san back over.
Her little sister is so kind—she wanted to thank me for helping a cat that had nothing to do with her. So why is the older sister like this?
Furei probably wanted to thank me not just because I helped the cat, but also because her sister was the one who chased it off in the first place. Even so, the difference between these two sisters is just way too much.
“I had no choice… She was really dirty, I didn’t want her near me…”
“Don’t lie, you were just scared of her.”
“I wasn’t scared!!”
Emera desperately denied it, but it was easy to imagine she had been afraid of the muddy and unfamiliar Myaa.
Of course, in front of other students, she would have acted bravely.
Anyway, if she insists she’s not scared, then maybe I should bring Myaa-san right up to her and let her prove it—
“Neko-chan, cute…”
—But seeing how happy Furei looked while playing with Myaa-san, I reconsidered. It would’ve been too cruel to interrupt that.
And honestly, watching Furei’s adorable, blissful smile felt a lot nicer than looking at Emera’s terrified expression.
Furei then held out both arms toward me, as if saying, “Let me hold her.”
The way she completely ignored her sister’s situation made me think she might not be as “big-sister-loving” as I’d assumed.
At the very least, her feelings definitely don’t match the devotion Emera shows toward her.
“Her name’s Myaa-san.”
I gently placed Myaa-san into Emera’s arms as I told them what to call her.
(TN: I think it should be Furei, but the author didn’t realize they wrote Emera.)
“So… her name is Myaa…?”
Furei, however, seemed unsure what to make of that.
I glanced over at Hina.
“Um… probably, I think…?”
Hina was the one who named her, but since both Hina and I only ever call her “Myaa-san,” Hina could only nod uncertainly.
Well, anyway…
“This cat probably thinks her name is Myaa-san, so I’m pretty sure she’ll respond better if you call her that.”
“Nn, got it…”
Furei nodded, and instead of calling out the name, she happily rubbed her cheek against Myaa-san.
She must have never touched small animals before; it seemed like she was having fun.
I worried about whether Myaa-san would start to squirm, but she seemed to understand that she was being cared for and stayed still.
And seeing Furei playing with Myaa-san made me think she looked cute, so I couldn’t help but pat her head.
“What!? H-Hey, what are you doing…!!”
Immediately, Emera, who didn’t want Furei to be touched by a man, glared at me angrily.
Yeah, that was probably inappropriate. It’s my fault.
“Sorry, I just… did that without thinking.”
“Nn, it’s fine… We’re engaged, so you don’t have to worry about it… And besides, I… like being petted…”
Since Furei, like Emera, had always given off the impression of disliking boys, I apologized right away—but surprisingly, she accepted it easily.
More than that, she even leaned in against me as if she wanted me to pet her more…
This must be the “good compatibility once she opens up” that Maria-san was talking about—this spoiled, clingy side of hers.
She usually clung to Emera, but it didn’t seem like it actually had to be Emera specifically.
But—
“…!”
—Emera, who adores Furei, apparently couldn’t tolerate it.
She didn’t go so far as to barge in and interrupt, but she was glaring at me with such resentment that it looked like she might jump on me at any moment.
Wait, I… I have to sleep in the same room as her tonight, don’t I…?
Is Furei really not an option…?
I mean, with that drug still affecting her, tonight seems… dangerous…
I felt such a strong sense of impending doom that I couldn’t help but think that.
“Shirayuki-san.”
“No. Maria-sama ordered it.”
When I called her name, she seemed to understand what I wanted without me saying anything.
And before I could ask, she denied it.
“Come on, can’t you do something…? I mean, she probably doesn’t want to sleep with me either, and all you’d have to do is play along…”
“Do you really think that would work on Maria-sama?”
“…Yeah, probably not…”
Knowing her, she’s fully aware that Emera and I won’t obediently sleep together.
Which means she might be using some method we don’t know about to keep us under surveillance.
Apparently Shirayuki-san is supposed to sleep in my room as a supervisor… and maybe because of that, she wasn’t willing to take my side.
Well, if we got caught, she’d be punished too…
And her role as a supervisor probably isn’t to make sure we don’t do anything weird—it’s to make sure we actually sleep together like we were told.
“This is a really bad start…”
“If you hadn’t petted Furei-sama’s head, none of this would have happened, would it?”
“Well… yeah, you’re not wrong, but…”
Huh, is Shirayuki-san a little sulky too?
The words felt so prickly that I couldn’t help but think that.
Character Summary (non-official)
- Aima Eito (愛真 英斗) — A second-year high school boy and twin brother of Hina. Level-headed and cautious, he knows more about the Tenjouin sisters’ cruelty than most after being in their class last year. He tries to stay quiet and unnoticed to avoid trouble, especially from the Tenjouin sisters who despise men.
- Aima Hina (愛真 雛) — Eito’s twin sister, a tiny 148 cm girl who’s adorable, clingy, and very attached to her brother. Sweet-natured and polite, but easily frightened, especially upon learning she’s placed in the same class as the Tenjouin sisters.
- Tenjouin Emera (天上院 翠玉) — One of the school’s notorious “twin queens.” A beautiful girl with long straight hair: a single streak of her bangs is white while the rest is gold. She has heterochromia—right eye red, left eye blue, and a flat chest. Cold, arrogant, and dangerously influential thanks to her powerful, wealthy family. Devoted entirely to her sister Furei.
- Tenjouin Furei (天上院 風麗) — Emera’s twin sister, with opposite hair colors—one golden streak in her bangs, the rest pure white—and mirror-image heterochromia: right eye blue, left eye red. She has a bob cut and a voluptuous figure like a gravure idol. Quiet, expressionless, and mysterious, yet incredibly dangerous beneath her calm. Furei doesn’t care about anyone except for Emera and the girls she favors, and even then, she treasures them more like pets than equals.
- Tenjouin Maria (天上院 真莉愛) — Maria is the foster parent who took Eito and Hina in from the orphanage when they were in second grade. An unbelievably beautiful woman who looks to be in her twenties—and still insists she is in her twenties—she has striking half-gold, half-white hair parted cleanly down the middle, brilliant blue eyes, and an ample chest. Though she appears elegant and composed, Eito describes her as a “demon in human skin,” having put him through countless extreme punishments whenever he failed to meet her expectations. Yet despite her terrifying side, Maria is helplessly weak to cute things, which is why she absolutely adores Hina and has spoiled her since they were little.
- Shirayuki Koori (白雪 氷) — Shirayuki Koori serves under the Tenjouin twins. She is a petite girl with pale blue twin-tail hair and an adorable, youthful face, paired with an icy, emotionless gaze. Despite her doll-like appearance, she is a highly trained combatant raised under special training since childhood. Competitive and proud, she hates losing and becomes flustered or emotional when things don’t go her way, revealing a childish side beneath her cool exterior.
- Shirayuki Hitomi (白雪 仁美) — Koori’s mother and Maria’s loyal maid. Like Maria, she is an unbelievably beautiful woman who looks to be in her twenties despite her age. Her appearance and personality resemble Koori’s, though with greater maturity, and she possesses the uncanny ability to read people’s thoughts at a glance. Despite her gentle demeanor, she may also have sadistic tendencies, given how she smiled gracefully while “punishing” Emera, all the while calling her pitiful.